Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no profit is being made, this is just for fun
AN: Hi All! I know it has been ages since I've updated anything – I took a new job over a year ago that is super busy and fast paced, which leaves literally no time for anything else – But, with the Coronavirus situation, I am finding a lot more time to actually get back to writing! I hope you all enjoy the new chapter!
Hermione glanced up at Tom, doing her best to keep up with his long strides as they made their way to the seventh floor corridor for the DA meeting.
"Are you nervous?" she asked curiously, noticing a muscle tensing in his jaw.
"No." he answered tightly.
"Then what's bothering you?" she asked, not willing to let the matter drop.
Rather than answer, he arched an eyebrow at her as if to say, "Are you serious right now?"
Hermione nodded when the implications of what they were about to do dawned on her. While this had seemed like a good idea initially, she realized that one wrong move on Tom's part could blow his cover and destroy Dumbledore's plan.
"I could tell them you were sick?" she asked hopefully, just before Ginny rounded the corner with Harry and Ron in tow.
"Nevermind", she mumbled under her breath, as she smiled at Harry and Ginny, careful to avoid Ron's eyes.
Harry wasted no time in focusing on their dueling room, and the door appeared within moments. Hermione ushered Tom inside when she caught Ron glaring at Tom's back, hoping she could keep some distance between the two of them for at least a little while. As the rest of the DA members slowly filtered in, it was no surprise that many of them were staring at Tom and whispering amongst themselves. Hermione felt her annoyance grow until she finally cleared her throat and decided to address the Slytherin in the room.
"Yes, Tom is a Slytherin. Yes, he's decided to join the DA. No, he's not a Death Eater. Believe it or not, he wants to help. At Durmstrang, he's learned things that we would never be taught here, and he has graciously agreed to pass that knowledge onto us," she spat, as she folded her arms across her chest defiantly, staring back at a sea of blank faces, daring any one of them to challenge her.
Seamus nodded then, and clapped Tom on the back, "Good enough for me, mate. Welcome to the club"
After that, one by one, everyone seemed to relax their guard, and she let out a relieved breath.
"Right, so Hermione's already briefed Tom on what we've covered so far, so with that, I'll let him take the lead." Harry said running a hand through his hair and stepping off the raised platform and allowing Tom to step up.
Tom stepped onto the dais after Harry vacated it, and his gaze swept across every face in the room, seeming to size them all up.
"Death Eaters will not follow the rules. They will curse you when your back is turned, and especially when your guard is down. Don't let it down. The curses they will throw at you are designed to maim and kill…not just incapacitate you. Most of their curses will be non-verbal, so the question is, how will you block it?"
Hermione listened enraptured as Tom demonstrated several ways to block incoming curses, even those that were cast non-verbally, by watching the opponent's wand movements.
"Right, so pair up, and practice your blocking spells."
Hermione quickly made her way to Tom, wanting to make sure Harry wouldn't end up paired up with him, and took her stance.
"I'm not going to go easy on you…" he chuckled, to which she only arched an eyebrow.
Before he was even in position she quickly fired off three successive curses, which he easily blocked, swearing under his breath. They continued on, sending curses back and forth, faster and faster unaware that the others had stopped what they were doing to watch.
"Reducto!" Hermione yelled, slashing her wand through the air, before spinning around to block one of his incoming curses.
Her eyes widened when she saw his wand suddenly slash through the air, emitting a familiar purple glow, and she felt rage well up within her, sending a shockwave of magic careening towards him that sent him crashing into the wall.
You could've heard a pin drop in the silence that followed, until Ron's voice shattered it, "Bloody Hell."
Hermione rushed over to where Tom had landed on his arse, and was surprised to see that he was actually laughing. She felt a mild sense of relief that he wasn't angry, until she remembered what spell he had sent towards her only moments before.
He made to stand but she quickly put her foot on his chest, keeping him in place, "If you ever…ever…send that spell at me again, Dumbledore will be the least of your concern" She whispered furiously, just loudly enough for him to hear.
He bit back a smirk, doing his best to look contrite while resting his elbows on the floor beneath him, gazing up at her appreciatively.
"What are you smirking at?" she asked in annoyance as she removed her foot from his chest and extended her hand to help him up.
"I bet you didn't know you could do that." He said with a smug grin.
"Well, no, I just…" she paused realizing for the first time that she had in fact, used the full strength of her magic, wandlessly as well as non-verbally, to block his curse.
"I made you angry…use it." He said as he winked at her and strode past her to check on how the others were faring.
As they were getting ready to leave, Harry made his way over to Tom and caught his arm, wincing as he did so, and rubbed his scar absently.
Hermione noticed and quickly intervened, "Harry! Did you see what I did? Amazing, wasn't it? I never knew I could do something like that!" she said hoping that it would be enough of a distraction that Harry wouldn't put two and two together and grow suspicious of Tom.
"Yeah, you were brilliant, Hermione. How did you do it?" he asked curiously, as the pain seemed to subside and he dropped his hand back to his side.
"Well, I recognized the spell Tom had sent towards me, a really nasty one," she said as she shot him an angry glare, "and I just remember feeling pure rage. It was almost involuntary – it felt like my magic just burst out of me, destroying everything in its path." She said with an air of disbelief
Tom chimed in looking directly at Harry, "Emotion is a powerful conduit for magic – I've been told you can cast a Patronus?" he asked
"Yes, one of our professors taught me back in third year," Harry shrugged
"So you must've made the connection, then, that the happier your memory, the stronger your Patronus charm?"
Harry nodded, he had known this of course, but never thought to consider that the same principles would apply to other spells, or to magic in general.
"Hate can be a strong motivator." Tom said darkly, almost to himself.
Harry looked at him curiously, before he seemed to remember what he had wanted to talk to him about, "So same time next week, then?" Harry asked hopefully, grateful to share the burden of teaching with someone else.
"Sure." Tom nodded to Harry, and then stepped out of the room to head back to his quarters.
oo0oo0oo0oo
As they stepped through the portrait hole, Hermione blocked Tom's lips with her fingers before they could descend upon hers
"Not so fast…" she said taking a step back from him, "What the hell were you playing at sending a spell like that at me?"
"Hermione, we were dueling, surely you didn't think I'd be throwing tickling hexes at you?" He chuckled until she quickly shrugged off her tee shirt and removed the glamour she'd been using to hide her scars.
His eyes widened as they took in the appearance of the jagged line that ran from her shoulder all the way to her hip, and his eyes darkened.
"Who did this?" he demanded angrily as he traced its path with his finger, causing her to shiver.
She chuckled mirthlessly, "It may as well have been you." She snapped, and he didn't miss the accusation in her tone.
He sighed, "Hermione, you now I would never…"
"Don't. Just don't." she said as she once again restored the glamour and left him standing there in the common room as she slammed her bedroom door.
oo0oo0oo0oo
After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, she finally gave up on sleep, and decided to take a walk to the astronomy tower. As she swept through the common room, she jumped when she heard his voice.
"I'm sorry."
She stopped, not turning to look at him.
"You were right. I taught them that spell. It may as well have been me." He said, his tone full of regret.
Hermione let out the breath she had been holding. The truth was, she didn't blame him, not really.
"It was Dolohov. He did this. Not you." She said quietly as she moved to sit beside him.
He could see the evidence of Dolohov's work peeking out from beneath her bathrobe, and he dipped his head down, pushing her bathrobe off of her shoulder as his lips met the jagged edge of her scar, and lowered her gently down onto the sofa.
"You don't need to hide this from me." He whispered against the sensitive flesh beneath her breasts and she shivered.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she pulled him up to capture his lips in a searing kiss. His fingers skimmed along her sides, fumbling with the knot of her bathrobe as she pulled at his shirt.
"Need to feel you…" she mumbled against his lips.
"Are you sure?" he asked pulling back slightly to look at her, as she nodded her acceptance, her hands moving quickly down to his belt.
He groaned, as he sucked one of her hardened nipples into his mouth, causing her to cry out and to buck her hips up against his.
With one hand, he helped her push his pants down over his hips and settled himself between her legs, relishing the fact that she hadn't been wearing anything under her bathrobe. He slid his hand down between them to position himself at her entrance, and she lifted her hips slightly in a clear invitation; that was all the encouragement he needed to drive himself home. She dug her fingernails into the back of his shoulders and cried out against the sharp pain of being filled for the first time, which thankfully receded into a dull ache as he stilled himself inside her.
"Fuck…" he groaned against the hollow of her throat, trying to stop himself from coming almost immediately at the feeling of her tight heat wrapped around him.
He began to move, torturously slow at first, to allow her a few moments to adjust, when he felt her hips begin rising to meet his. He captured her lips again, his tongue swirling around inside her mouth, being spurred on by the small moans she was making every time he sank deeper.
His slid his hand down between them once again, this time to massage her clit with his thumb while he pumped into her, and he smiled against her throat as she arched her back towards him and bit down on her bottom lip.
The pain had all but faded to a dull ache, but the pleasure had risen to take its place. She was chasing that feeling of bliss, feeling herself being stretched to the breaking point ready to shatter into a thousand pieces at his command.
"I'm going to…fuck, I'm going to come…" he swore before he let out a groan which sent her careening over the edge.
She cried out beneath him, feeling the waves of pleasure crash over her, made even stronger knowing it she who caused him to lose control.
As she came back down from the high, he was trying to catch his breath, and he leaned his forehead down to hers and closed his eyes.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly
She chuckled, relishing the soreness between her legs as a reminder of what they had just done, "No, I think I'll live."
He grinned, and leaned up on his elbows to take his weight off of her, and she sighed at the loss of contact.
"Why do they make these damn couches so small?" he said as he whispered an enlargement spell to widen the couch so that he could lay behind her comfortably.
"Maybe you should write a strongly worded letter?" she laughed, turning her head so that she could kiss his jaw.
"I'll consider it." He chuckled, and then pulled her back against his chest and fell into the most restful sleep he'd had in as long as he could remember.